Hey forum

Classes over, got to play some blitz for the first time in a while, a lot of fun. I see there are still talent threads lol :p

Although you're all probably sick of them, for those that do go ahead an post, what factors do you think go into building skill? Don't really want to talk about what doesn't factor in until there's a clear argument about what does count.

More than time x effort? After my break form chess my (long) games feel easier to play somehow, like I can see things better. Got me thinking about that + davidegpc blocked me so can't post there.

Skill at the highest level = (Hard work + Motivation + Innate talent), in my opinion. Even the bum Capablanca had to have some motivation to become the WCC. The hard work component is obvious. Some people will criticize the "innate talent" component, but I'll stick with the assumption that a "divine spark" is needed. At the TOP LEVEL, once again.

I had no problem with people ignoring this topic . Looking back at davidegpc's posts seems it's already been beaten to death. Was glad though that some rational people did manage to make some good posts in there (even if david characteristically ignored them).

But yeah, if you think about it, isolating the factors time and effort we see that they alone contain no attributes directly linked to skill building. Building skill is a biological function first, and building a working definition using these functions will inevitably manifest what some call talent. As was already pointed out it's mostly a problem of semantics -- or in david's case, genuinely and sincerely, I believe reading comprehension.